Night Calls a Stranger
by Wolvertique
Summary: Logan's Detective Agency. This AU story is set in a film noir type universe. Rated for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

Note: this is an AU X-story set in a film noir universe, where mutants and nonmutants coexist fairly peacefully. To help you understand the story better, I've included a cast of characters at the beginning. Enjoy!

CAST OF CHARACTERS  
  
BLACKBIRD: Once one of Logan's street kids, Blackbird, who can shapeshift into a raven and a giant raven form, is all grown up. She honestly cares for him, and wouldn't mind if their relationship went beyond friendship, but hasn't made any sudden moves in that direction yet.  
  
KITTY is one of Logan's kids he rescued from the street. She is loyal to him, but has a hard time remembering to hide her power from others.  
  
CHARLIE is a telepathic mutant who heads the mutant police squad. He knows that sometimes, in order to protect the law, you have to break it. He has no problem with Logan, though he'd like to see him reform and join the Force some day. He'd also like Summers and Logan to stop fighting, as he values both men.   
  
SUMMERS is a rules and regs, by the book cop. He will never act to break the rules. Logan pisses him off intensely, but he would never do anything to trap him, either, as that would be cheating. Summers never cheats.   
  
ORORO MUNROE is not a rules and regs cop, but she is willing to go along with and support her partner in public. Privately, she does have some sympathy for Logan's methods.   
  
GAMBIT is a shady nightclub owner, among other possible things. He sells watered down alcohol, has "girls" in the club who are for sale, and knows a thing or two about the criminal underground, as much of it spends time in his club.   
  
WORTHINGTON is a privileged snot who doesn't think much of women. He doesn't let his low opinions out, normally, without being drunk. When he is not drunk, he represses his desire to hurt women.   
  
AMANDA is a newcomer to the movie world, a shining star. Her three films with Kurt Wagner have broken box-office records. She is not related to him and did not meet him before working with him on movies. She liked him and found him fun to be with before Warren cut her up and put her in the hospital, but has recently fallen in love with him due to his devotion and kindness, despite her lowered appearance.   
  
KURT is as dashing and daring off-screen as he is on-screen. He is handsome, brave, athletic, and does all his own stunts handily. He has dearly loved Amanda since their first movie. This led him to act on his dark desire to kill Warren for harming Amanda, and hiring Logan to do it for him. He does regret his decision, though, which is why he paid Logan more than he had planned in the beginning. He is planning to propose to Amanda tomorrow night. (She accepts.)   
  
McCOY, in the noir world, is a slimy bastard, but a fairly unambitious slimy bastard. He wants nothing more than tenure and safety in the academic world, as well as the love and attention of women. He was hoping to get to seduce more women through the use of the telepathic formula, but told no one about this and wrote it nowhere, so no one but McCoy knows the truth. He is the original design "larger hands and feet" Beast.   
  
McTAGGERT worked with her colleagues, Dr. Nathaniel ESSEX, Dr. BOOM, and Dr. Wilhelm STRANGE to create the telepathic formula. She felt it would promote understanding between human groups if it were used properly, and could even eradicate war. When "war" started over it, she panicked and decided to hide, then run. Unfortunately, "Red" caught her before she could.   
  
RED is fairly simple. The Jean Grey of this world is a selfish, greedy woman who has power but no empathy. She doesn't really like anyone, but despises men, particularly men who like her, because they must be weak. She hoped to create her own telepaths, figuring she could finally make people like her. She has problems with anger, and has frequently sabotaged her own interests because she could not control her temper.   
  
LOGAN is our noir hero. Doing good despite himself, while still having criminal impulses and doing criminal deeds, Logan only really trusts kids and men. He has a (low) code of honor and will not kill just anyone for anything. He does not really trust any women, though he does trust his "kids" at any age. He wishes he could, though, and regrets the further erosion of trust in women that Red caused. He is not irredeemable, and has the potential to trust and love a woman, but it would take a lot of effort and time to build such a relationship. Unfortunately, so far Blackbird's the only one interested, and she's out for the count for now.... 

****

Night Calls a Stranger, Chapter 1  
  
It was dark and foggy this night in the city by the bay. My claws itched. I was on the trail, and someone was going to get some...justice.   
  
I looked up at the house. This was it, all right. I knocked politely.   
  
The door opened, and a servant stood there. "Yes?" she asked. I took her arm and swung her outside as I went in and locked it after me. I wasn't here for her. I was here for Warren.   
  
Who am I? I'm Logan. Private investigator. Any job considered. Seeing that this was my only job right now, I was very inspired to do my best.  
  
More servants were coming now, of course. I took some time to ask each of them if they wanted their blood on the carpet, or if they wanted to tell me where Warren was and leave with their heads attached to their necks.   
  
Amazing, how quick people can turn on ya...I got the house cleared and Warren's location faster than lightning, and I didn't even bring any help.   
  
The bedroom was dark. Only the fire in the fireplace gave light. I locked and braced the door behind me, then I spent a few minutes preparing a special surprise. Finally, I was ready.   
  
"Hello, Warren," I said, holding my left hand, claws extended, at his throat. He gasped and then lay still.   
  
"Do...do you want money? I...I'll give it to you. Just let me up."   
  
"Ah, Warren. Warren, Warren, Warren. Nah, I don't want money." I raised my right hand with its claws extended up to his cheek, and he held very still. All three blades glowed with the heat of the fire. "I want to make sure you can't hurt more dames like you hurt that cute little frail, Amanda. You remember Amanda, don't you, Warren?" I sliced his cheeks open with my heated claws. He screamed, then started leaking tears as he protested and begged.   
  
Sorry. I've heard it all before. I got to work. He was bruised and bloody by the time I heard an explosion at the door. I sheathed my claws and whispered, "Say one word, and I'll kill you later." He nodded and pulled the covers up over his head.   
  
I calmly poured two cups of wine and waited. The door came down, and joy with it. My dear old friend Lieutenant Scott Summers stood there, with his partner, Ororo Munroe. Charlie's Cops.   
  
"What are you doing here, Logan?" Summers asked, his nightstick out. I yawned. "Just came to see an old friend, Summers."  
  
He frowned. "That's LIEUTENANT Summers to you, Logan. Mr. Worthington? Are you all right?"   
  
The lump under the bed covers let out a muffled "Yes" and remained still.   
  
Summers nodded to Munroe, who went over to the bed and pulled the covers back. Warren looked bad, and those slashes to his cheeks would definitely scar. "What happened to you?" she asked him.   
  
I broke in, "He...fell."   
  
He nodded. "I...I fell."   
  
Munroe gave me a wise ass look. I knew she wasn't buying it. Summers came over and stood next to me, pounding the stick into his hand. "What did you do to him, Logan?"   
  
I shrugged and sipped my wine. "I was gonna get him a drink, but you two beauties just waltzed in here before I could."   
  
"Is that right, Mr. Worthington?" Munroe asked again. He nodded and curled up in his bed.   
  
Summers growled. "One of these days, Logan...one of these days, you'll step too far out of line. And I'll be there to take you down."   
  
I smiled. "Brandy?" I held out a cup to Munroe, ignoring Summers.   
  
"Offering alcohol to a police officer on duty? Let's take him in," he said to Munroe, as she said no to my offer quietly.   
  
"Lieutenant, perhaps we should just get a doctor for Mr. Worthington's injuries and then leave," Munroe said. "Go, Logan. You're in our way."   
  
I shrugged. "I guess the bird tells you what to do, right, Summers?" I put my hat back on and left to the sounds of Summers sputtering behind me.   
  
The penthouse was across town, and it took me forty minutes to get there. A few words, and I was admitted to a vastly different world. Posters, movies, swords and guns confronted me as I walked into Kurt Wagner's room.   
  
The star himself looked up at me as I came in and quickly cleared the room of others. "Ja, it is done, mein freund?"   
  
"Nah." I sat and tipped my hat back. "One of the servants must have called the cops. I beat him pretty bad, and some of those wounds will leave scars, but he'll live."   
  
He sighed. "Well, even partial revenge is good. Here." He flung me some money and I counted it.   
  
"Hey. This is only half of what we agreed to, Wagner."   
  
He shrugged. "You only did half the job, Logan. I can't pay for unsatisfactory work."   
  
I sighed. "Can't stop acting, even for a moment, can you, Kurt?" I put the money in my pocket. "That was straight from 'Dr. Forell and the Lady,' scene three."   
  
He smiled. "I didn't know you'd followed my career since we left the Army, mein freund."   
  
"Now, about that money," I began again.   
  
He considered me, and then tossed me another small wad of cash. "For helping me with Amanda. Now go."   
  
"Just one more thing, Wagner. Remember your role in _The Adventures of Robin Hood_?"


	2. Chapter 2

****

Night Calls a Stranger, Chapter 2

Ah. Home, sweet home. The office of Logan Investigations, Inc. has a small room off to the side where I live. It's not much, but it's mine.

The office was dark, but there was someone inside. Ah. Blackbird's come to visit. I like the Bird. She's one of my…special projects. I found her on the street at fifteen, a scrawny thing that was shorter than me. Now she's running her own business down the street, and she's still shorter than me.

I put out my cigarette and said, "Hello, Bird." She was lying across my desk, propped up on one arm. She lit the desk lamp and then looked up at me.

The Bird was dressed to kill…small black dress, dress shoes, and made up to the nines. She smiled. "Logan," she nodded, lighting one of the cigarettes I keep in the locked drawer of my desk, with my lighter. She looked at the pictures I was carrying under my arm. "Is that work, or pleasure?"

I put the pictures down. "Bit of both, kid. What's up with you tonight? Boyfriend busy again?"

She sighed. "It's permanent this time, I'm afraid. A little actress named Blair has her claws in him, and deep. So once again I'll have to sit at home alone."

"Don't let me stop you." I watched the smoke play around her black hair. She gracefully leaped off my desk and looked more closely at the pictures.

"Hm. To my fan Kitty, keep watching, Kurt Wagner. THE Kurt Wagner?" She flashed me a look. I opened my hands wide. "I got a lot of friends. You know that."

"Huh." She looked at the second one. "To Kitty, keep Logan on track for me, Kurt Wagner. Interesting." She turned around and twirled a little. "Want to take me dancing? Keep me honest?"

I grinned. "Okay. For starters, put back the stuff you took." Her eyes opened wide, and her lips parted. "Don't bother lying to me, Bird. I taught you how. I know when you're doing it."

She rolled her eyes. "Damned hyper senses." She took my cuffs, lighter, cigarettes, two pens, a piece of paper, and the Burmese Cockatiel I kept from a case I worked long ago out of that little black dress she was wearing. Wish I had her tailor.

Gambit's joint was jumping when we got there. I like Gambit's place. It's dark, dirty, and anything goes. Plus the liquor is never watered down. Well, not when I'm there, anyway. Also, you can find just about anything you want. Information, weapons, rides…hell, someone needed a dictionary one night, and Gambit found it for him.

A new band was playing tonight, and the blond soloist was wailing when we got in. Gambit himself was behind the bar, and yelled to me to take my normal spot. I did, clearing myself a space at the bar, and the Bird joined me. The place was packed. The Toad himself, head of some of the nastier crimes in the city (drugs, organized assassination) was there, talking with some of his T-Men. A couple of my favorite informants were there, too...Jubilee, another special project, was dancing out on the floor, and the Iceman, hit man for hire, was talking with one of the T-men. Why "Iceman"? Because he iced a LOT of people. On the classier side, we had Mr. Geoffrey Rothden, better known as Arcade for his business interests, stepping out with Lady Elizabeth Braddock. They had a ton of hired goons with them to keep them safe. Hm. Best keep my eye on them. They had to be up to something dirty and lowdown to be here.

We did a few turns across the floor, the Bird and I, till she got too tired to keep up and headed out the door. I went back to my drink. When I looked up, I saw the classiest dame I've ever seen. She had deep red hair, green eyes, and a dress that did more to show off her figure than cover it up. She was looking at me, too, and I went over to see what she wanted. Without a word, she whirled me out to the dance floor, and we did every dance I'd ever heard of till dawn.

Then I took my hat off, bowed to her, and left for some sleep before work.

******************

The shrieking woke me up. Thought the place was caving in for a moment. Then a whirlwind hit my chest and I grabbed it. It was Kitty, and she was gabbing at me. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU! You're the best, Logan! He's so dreamy…wow…and you know him! You're better than the best." I had to think for a minute.

"Hoped you'd like them, kid. What time is it?" It felt like half an hour after I'd gone to bed.

Kitty bounced off the bed. "Eleven. Our hours are eleven to eight, you know. Get up." She bustled into the office and started arranging things. I stretched my neck and sighed.

"I'm gonna be able to pay you some of that back pay I owe you, kid. I got paid last night." I walked into the office, yawning.

We did some paperwork for about half an hour, and then she walked in again. That redhead from last night looked as good in daylight as she did in the dark of Gambit's place. "Mr. Logan?" she asked in a smoky voice that got me itching again.

I nodded to the door. "Hey, kid, go get us some coffee or something, all right?" I slipped her a hundred, and her eyes widened. She ran through the door, and I winced. Tell the kid for weeks not to show off, and what does she do…

She dropped her fox fur over a chair and leaned over my desk. I watched her closely as she did. She spoke again. "Mr. Logan, I need your help desperately. You're familiar with the scientist murders, aren't you?"

I nodded. "What I read in the papers." Three scientists, all crushed to death. All working on some secret project. Two cops also axed by the same killer.

She gave a throaty chuckle. "Mr. Logan, they were working on a formula for telepathy. I really, really want it, and I'd do just about anything to get it…and an explanation of how to make it."

Being the kind of man I am, curious and all, I needed more information. "So how far are you willing to go, Red?"

She leaned in closer. "I'll … do … anything…." she breathed at me, smelling of mint and vanilla, and something else underneath that got me on edge.

"Yeah. I bet you would," I said, leaning back in my chair. I stretched my arms out. "Can you afford my services?"

She dropped back and picked up her purse. "I've got twenty grand with me, and more, if you want it." That voice was making me very itchy…

"That money'd be just fine for now, Red. How will I contact ya once I get what you need?" I stretched out my hand for it, and she put her own in mine and stroked my hand, then gave me the cash.

"Oh, I'll be close by!" She walked around my desk and pressed her body against me in a deep kiss that rang though my bones. She then tossed a small card on the desk, picked up her fur and purse, and sashayed out the door.

I shook my head and lit the nastiest cigar I had. There was something off about this dame, something that niggled at me under all the smooth promises she made. I dialed a number and waited for an answer. "Hello. Bird? I want you to take on a shadowing job for me."

I was relaxing in my chair when Kitty returned. She had coffee and boxes with her. I smiled. The kid was in heaven. It's not often that you find heaven in my office.   
  
The coffee was hot and strong. I was able to feel a little buzz from it before my healing factor started kicking in. Ahh...   
  
A knock came at the door. I sat back and let the man come in. He wore a full suit and looked ill at ease. "Mr. Logan?" he asked, his large hands twisting together in discomfort. I nodded. Kitty piped up from the corner, where she was arranging her pictures, "That's him!"   
  
"I request that you do a small amount of work on my behalf." He came to the desk and sat on the chair in front of it. "I require a scientific formula which benefits the user with telepathic ability."   
  
I rolled my eyes. Was everyone in the city after this damned formula? "Who are you, and why should I?"   
  
He handed me a business card. It gave his name, Dr. Henry McCoy, and an address at the university. "I am not a wealthy man, but I can compensate you adequately for your assistance, I assure you."   
  
"I'm a plain kind of guy. Spell it out for me, doc," I said, watching him closely.   
  
He named a figure that topped Red's by half. I whistled. "Give me a minute," I said, prepared for a quick wrestle with my conscience. Should I take on a job for two different people like this?   
  
It took only 45 seconds for me to get my conscience down on the mat, pinned. Sure. Why not? Let Red and the Doc fight it out once I got the formula.   
  
I smiled. "Happy to be working with you, Doc." He gave a very dark grin himself, and after a few more pleasantries (and the money) he was gone. I nodded to Kitty. "Follow him. Find out what he wants it for."   
  
She sighed and whispered something to one of the pictures, then ran through the door after the doc. Kids.   
  
I was about to get to work on officially closing out the Worthington business when the phone rang. I got it. "Logan."   
  
"Hey, there, Logan." A pleasant, smooth voice answered me, a voice I knew. It figured. Charlie the Cop was calling.   
  
"After last night, I figured you'd come to see me." I toyed with the switchblade from my secret drawer in my desk.   
  
He laughed. "Too busy, Logan. So I hear you got my friend Scott pissed off again."   
  
I grinned. Any bad day for Summers was a good day for me. "Did I? Gee. That's too bad."   
  
He cleared his throat. "Logan, I know he and you don't get along. He and I don't always get along either. He doesn't get it that sometimes, going by the law doesn't work. But he's a good cop, and we need him. Could you lay off a little?"   
  
Anyone else I would have said to go to hell. But this was Charlie. I shook my head. "I guess if I have to."   
  
"Hey. You lay off, I can get him to lay off."   
  
"Charlie. What do you know about these scientists getting iced?"   
  
His voice turned serious. "It's nothing for you to meddle with, Logan. Even you can get killed."   
  
"That dangerous, hm?" I leaned back in my chair.   
  
"Yeah." He bellowed to someone at the station house, then returned to me. "I ain't supposed to tell anyone anything, but I know you, Logan. You won't back off unless I give you a reason. I like that about you."   
  
"Uh huh. So give it to me."   
  
"Okay. The scientists, and the cops that were killed, were smashed to bits by very heavy objects. Two ton safes. Pianos. Anyone could lift those could probably crush your bones."   
  
"Any survivors?"   
  
"We're getting the last scientist on the project, a Dr. McTaggert, out of the city tonight. I can't find who did it either, Logan." Charlie was ... scared?   
  
"Well, thanks for the advice, Charlie."   
  
"Don't forget, Logan. We'd welcome you joining the Force any time." Charlie always offered. "Consider it some, okay?"   
  
"Don't know that I can, Charlie." I hung up my phone and thought. I'd have to try to get to this McTaggert guy before the last flight out tonight.   



	3. Final Chapter

****

Putting it All Together  
  
A few calls, a few favors, and I find out where this McTaggert lives. It's a woman, apparently, and she's on the high side of town.   
  
It was a short trip, and I knocked on her door. Her scent was warm and strong. "Dr. McTaggert?" I called. She smelled of fear and anger.   
  
"I know you're there, doctor. Any chance we can do business with your formula?"   
  
She didn't move much, but she moved a little. She was in the back of the house, and she held a large and nasty gun. I could smell the oil and had to hold back from charging right in after it.   
  
To hell with this. I could probably come back later, find out where she was going, and get her to listen to me once she was convinced she was safe. I called out, "Thanks, doc. You're all heart."   
  
My office smelled of Kitty. I came in and she was sitting on a chair, swinging her legs back and forth. "Logan!" She got up and said, "Guess what I found out?"   
  
"Where's Dr. McCoy?" I asked, throwing my hat and coat to the side.   
  
She frowned. "He lost me. But I searched his office at the university. You'll never guess what he wants the formula for."   
  
I shrugged. "His own robot army?"   
  
"No." She laughed. "He wants to make a telepathic clone of himself to help him get tenure at the university and other stuff like that. Spying on faculty meetings, figuring out which kids in his class are cheating on tests, that's what he wants it for."   
  
I chuckled. Pathetic. "Well, Kit, you've done good work. Why don't you go home. I've gotta finish up here. The Bird didn't call in, did she?"   
  
She turned gracefully and smiled at me. Good kid. "Not while I was here, Logan. Bye!"   
  
"Kid, use the door this..." She was through the wall and out. Shaking my head, I lit one of my cigarettes and opened my small window in the back wall of my office. Sounds of traffic entered, and I thought about McCoy as a suspect. Was he desperate enough to kill for this formula? For a safe job at a university? Seemed stupid to me, but maybe he valued it that much.   
  
I heard flapping, then rattling as the raven made her way through my window and flopped onto my desk. I smiled. "Hello, Blackbird."   
  
The raven looked hard at me. She opened her beak and said, "Can't you make that window any bigger?"   
  
I smiled. "Diet."   
  
I got the feeling she was trying to glare at me, but in this form it was near impossible. "I've got some news for you. Your girlfriend just killed Dr. McTaggert."   
  
I tensed. "Go on, bird."   
  
The Bird told me she'd followed Red from her hotel room. Red seemed to be tracking somebody, and ended up at the doc's house. She called out that she was the doc's mom, and the doc must have bought it, because the door opened for Red. Red asked her for the formula and an explanation of it, but ended up getting really angry. Red used telekinesis to spin a huge safe around in the air and then dropped it onto the Doc. She didn't survive.   
  
Red was really pissed, though, and had gone to Gambit's for some liquid courage. Bird had followed, switched to human long enough to tell the blond singer, Sean, to keep an eye on her, and then come for me.   
  
I was getting ready to go through this whole story. Damn it. The classy broads are never trustworthy. I should know better.   
  
"You loaded for bear, Bird?" She had switched to human form again and nodded. "I need your cuffs, though."   
  
"Keep them." We headed down to Gambit's again. When we got there, I said, "Go in first. I'll go in after and see what I can get out of her. You go after her only if she won't crack for me."   
  
The Bird looked up at me and straightened my hat. "Be careful," she said, and went inside.   
  
I gave her a minute to find a good spot, then I walked in. The singer was doing a sound check, but his eyes were glued to table 4, where a certain pissed redhead was drinking scotch. I made my way to the table. "Hello, Red," I said, sitting down.   
  
She looked at me and put on her seductive mask again. "Logan," she breathed. "What do you have for me?"   
  
I managed to come up with a mask of my own. "That all depends on what you have for me, doll."   
  
She leaned toward me. "Oh, I think I can come up with something if you have my formula."   
  
"Sorry. I tried to get it earlier but no one was home."   
  
She gave me a sweet lyin' smile. "Can you excuse me for a moment?" She headed to the ladies' room by the bar.   
  
After ten minutes, she hadn't come out. I know this place, and there isn't a rear exit, so she must be giving me the brushoff. What a surprise.   
  
I put a small device in my ear as I walked over to the Bird. Her black dress didn't betray where my cuffs were. I pinned a flower to her dress and whispered in her ear. "I'll be listening. You smoke her out for me."   
  
I headed across the street and waited. Bird crossed the bar and went to the side exit door, heading into the alley. "Hey, where's your short friend?" I heard her call.   
  
Red responded. "No friend of mine. I don't have friends of such low quality."   
  
I heard my cuffs clink as Bird took them out. "He's pretty stupid, though."   
  
"Isn't he?" Red sounded pretty bitter. "Ugly, low class, rough...and I had to let the brute touch me. Those horrid, dirty hands..."   
  
I resented that. I had washed them last night! Or was it the night before?   
  
Bird's voice rang with repressed anger, though no one but me would have known it. "Yes, I've suffered through it once or twice myself. But it can have its rewards." She tossed my cuffs, and Red laughed.   
  
"At least you got something out of it. The bastard couldn't get my formula for me." At that, I headed toward the alley. If Red had been killing so far, she wouldn't stop now.   
  
"Could you help me with this hairdo?" Bird was in danger. I hustled. I heard a scream from Red as I heard a scream from Bird.   
  
I entered the alley, my claws out. Red was sucking her finger, looking down at my fallen Bird in anger. "You'll pay for that, you freak!" she said, and looked up at me. She tried to smile, but one look must have told her I wasn't buying.   
  
"The only question at this point is whether you die quick or slow, Red," I said, quietly.   
  
She sneered. "I can kill you, Logan. I've already nearly killed your lady friend here. I've killed six people so far in trying to get this formula. What makes you think I'll stop now?"   
  
"You're already stopped, Red." I shook my head. "That pin my friend stuck you with? Poison. I trained her in the use of it myself. It takes about three days to die. Nice."   
  
She gasped. The pin prick had already turned black.   
  
"Of course," I extended my claws, "I would be glad to give you a nice, quick death...in return for proof of your guilt. That's your only choice, Red. Quick or slow. Which will it be?"   
  
She tried to raise the fire escape ladder she'd wrenched out of place with her telekinesis and beaten the bird with again, but it trembled and fell out of her grasp. She glared at me. "You dirty animal. All right. You win." She fished a small key out of her purse. "Box 617 at the midtown bank. Has my diary in it. All the evidence you want. Bastard."   
  
She was telling the truth this time. That undertone of lies was gone. I ended it quick, like I'd promised, just as a cop car pulled up.   
  
"Logan!" Damn it. Summers had to be on duty again, didn't he? "I've got you dead to rights this time, Logan. You're going away for a long time."   
  
Munroe stopped at the Bird's side and took her pulse. "We'll need an ambulance, Scott. She's fading."   
  
Another car pulled up. As Munroe radioed for an ambulance, Charlie and Pete came up to where Summers was reading me my rights. Charlie cut him off. "What's going on, Logan?"   
  
"I've got the murderer of the four scientists and the two cops right here," I said, nodding to the body of Red on the ground.  
  
"Got any evidence?" Charlie asked, as Summer spluttered, "But sir! I caught him red-handed, killing this woman. He probably got this other one, too."   
  
I saw red and broke the cuffs I had on. I was on Summers in a heartbeat, ready to murder the lying...as if I'd hurt the Bird...   
  
_Stop! Both of you. Now!_ Charlie froze my muscles in place, and probably froze Summers' hand, because the expected optic blasts didn't come. _Detective-Lieutenant Summers, we WILL listen to Logan's evidence. Logan, tell it straight. NOW._   
  
I gave it to them as I got it from Red. Charlie took my elbow. "Summers, you and I and Logan are going for a little drive up to the bank to check this evidence out. Munroe, you and Rasputin stay with the girl till the ambulance arrives."   
  
We found her diary in the box at the bank. Apparently, Red was planning to use the formula to create "high-class" telepaths like herself. Poor little rich girl was lonely. Imagine that. I don't know why...other than that if anyone challenged her, she got angry and used her telekinesis to destroy them.   
  
Summers was still arguing as Charlie drove up to the hospital and let me out. "You can't just let this man kill people, Charlie! The law is the law!" Charlie turned to him and said, "We're giving him a pass this time, Summers. And that's an order."   
  
I went in and soon was sitting by Blackbird's bed. Damn it all. I caught Red but I might lose the Bird. It just goes to show you can't trust these classy broads. 


End file.
